Gangnam gets us groovin’

PRIYANKA ROY AND SAIONEE CHAKRABORTY

Move over bhashaan steps, Gangnam Style is here!

If you say wazzat, you’ve either not heard of YouTube or not watched the T20 World Cup final or both.

What Chris Gayle and the merry men in maroon were doing after winning the Cup on Sunday was the Gangnam groove, a hit dance move that has made its way from a Korean music video to the cricket field and now to the floor of the city’s nightclubs.

So what is Gangnam Style? It’s a four-minute pop video by South Korean pop-star PSY — or Park Jae-Sang — that has become the biggest YouTube sensation of the year, notching up 404 million-plus views. Its signature move? A horse-riding and lasso-ing step that has become a rage.

But even as flash mobs in the US were grooving to Gangnam and the likes of Britney Spears and Nelly Furtado were taking dance tips from PSY, Calcutta truly woke up to the power of the smash-hit video when Gayle and Windies skipper Darren Sammy launched into the Gangnam groove just after claiming the T20 crown. Gayle the Gangnam was spotted first on Friday when the Caribbean marauder showed off his PSY-inspired moves after his team’s thrashing of Australia.

Also on Sunday, tennis star Novak Djokovic delighted fans in Beijing by aping the Gangnam groove after clinching his third China Open title. “I was talking to fans who suggested to me to do that dance at the end of the tournament in case I win. I had to hold my promise, and it was fun. I think it was obvious that I was the worst dancer there out of the small group, but it still was quite a lot of fun,” said Djokovic.

The fun video — which has already set a Guinness World Record for the maximum number of ‘likes’ at 3,690,571 — has topped the US iTunes chart and even unseated boy band One Direction from the top of the UK chartbusters list. Now, it is ready to rule the festive floor in town.

Most party-goers at Nostradamus in Fortune Select Loudon last Saturday were seen doing a PSY, with DJ Akash pegging it as the most requested number of the night. “About 20 days back, the first request for Gangnam came to me. It has really picked up in Calcutta in the last two-three weeks. I played it twice on Saturday, but every 10-15 minutes people came and put in a request. We made them do the horse-riding step when the song was played,” said Akash.

DJ Girish introduced the track on the Shisha console a month ago and now there isn’t stopping the Gangnam craze. “It is very popular with people in their early 20s. And the elderly dance sitting at their table! I have made it a ritual… free drinks from the DJ who can do the Gangnam Style properly! Girls do it the best,” said Girish.

So what makes Gangnam the song to groove to? “The flavour is that of a south Indian track (think Kolaveri di!). The fact that it has a remixed feel works for those on the dance floor,” said Girish. “I love the fact that though the song doesn’t make any sense, we all can sing along and dance to it. The horse-riding step is the cutest I have ever seen,” said Shilpa Banerjee, a software professional and party regular.

“I like both the dance steps and the track. I discovered it last week on a friend’s BBM status. This is one of the party picks for me this season. It is a complete riot,” said actress Ridhima Ghosh who did the best Gangnam at an impromptu contest at Shisha recently.